This invention relates to a patient supporting apparatus for use in surgical procedures and, more particularly, to a patient supporting bed having multiple attachments for facilitating multiple uses of the patient supporting bed.
Wheel supported beds for use in patient care have become more and more sophisticated and more versatile. Beds used as patient supports are now being used to transport patients from a room in which patient care is provided to other facilities within a health care establishment without necessitating removal of the patient from the bed. One of the uses includes a use in a surgical theatre and for multiple types of surgery, such as head, neck and shoulder surgery as well as urological surgeries. The needs of the surgeon for the aforesaid types of surgeries are multiple and are often not available on a single patient supporting bed thereby necessitating the purchase of multiple styles of patient supports in order to accommodate each particular need.
Accordingly, it is an object of this invention to provide a patient supporting bed having multiple features capable of operative connection to the bed to facilitate multiple and differing uses for the bed, such as surgeries to be performed upon the patient.
It is a further object of the invention to provide a patient supporting bed, as aforesaid, wherein the patient supporting deck thereof includes a head, seat and foot section with the foot section being composed of two components separately and independently connected to the bed on the edge of the seat remote from the head section.
It is a further object of the invention to provide a patient supporting bed, as aforesaid, wherein there is provided a fluid receiving receptacle oriented in a normally stowed position beneath the seat section and being deployable to a position immediately below the perineal edge of the seat section, that is, the edge of the seat section remote from the head section.
It is a further object of the invention to provide a patient supporting bed wherein one of the foot sections serves as a foot end fowler capable of mimicking the articulation of the head section so that a patient supported on the seat section will have the feet supported on the head section and the back resting against the foot end fowler.
It is a further object of the invention to provide a patient supporting bed, as aforesaid, wherein the structure of the overall bed in the area beneath the foot section is completely open so as to provide an unobstructed space for the surgeon to use during surgical procedures.
It is a further object of the invention to provide a patient supporting bed having support rails extending coextensively along opposite side edges of the patient support deck and capable of mounting various accessories, such as side rails and/or patient leg supports and the like.
The objects and purposes of the invention are met by providing a patient supporting apparatus in the form of a bed having a base, a pair of elongate generally parallel extending and laterally spaced support frame members on the base. A pedestal is oriented between a top side of the base and each of the support frame members to facilitate elevational movement of the support frame members. A patient support deck is mounted on the support frame members and includes a head section and a seat section, the seat section including a deck plate oriented in a horizontal plane mounted to and extending between the support frame members. A pair of laterally spaced support brackets are provided on either the base or the patient support deck adjacent to the seat section along a side thereof remote from the head section.
The above set forth patient supporting apparatus is capable of operatively connecting to various components. In order to facilitate this operative connective relation, the patient supporting apparatus includes a fastening member having separate first and second coupling elements thereon supported on each of the support brackets for movement between two positions. Separate first and second patient supporting devices each having an attachment member configured to operatively removably and separately connect only to a selected one of the two coupling elements is provided. The first patient supporting device is a foot section supported on a first of the coupling elements. The second patient supporting device is a foot end fowler section supported on a second of the coupling elements.
The aforesaid patient supporting apparatus also includes a guideway on each of the support brackets, the guideway supporting a frame and having a track thereon. A receptacle is removably mounted on the track and for movement relative to the frame, the receptacle being stowable beneath the deck plate and deployable so that the receptacle is oriented immediately below the perineal edge of the seat section.